‘I saw the vehicle fold’ – driver in fatal crash
A survivor of a harrowing crash that claimed the lives of a 30-yearold mum and two of her children said she could still remember the ‘‘horrific sound as the windows smashed and the airbags went off one by one’’.
The woman’s statement was one of several read at Ashburton District Court yesterday during a coroner’s inquest into the deaths of Chante Alissa Harmer, 30, her
8-month-old daughter, Wysdom Tapiata-Harmer, and 1-year-old son, Awa Tapiata-Harmer.
Harmer and her children died in a mid-morning crash on April 1,
2019 when she drove her Holden through a give way sign and into the path of a ute at the intersection of Mitcham and Hepburns roads, north of Ashburton in Canterbury.
The impact caused the Holden to split in two, while the ute rolled several times before coming to a standstill next to the road.
A teenage girl who was in the front passenger seat of the Holden was critically injured, while the driver of the ute sustained minor injuries. Both their names were suppressed by the court.
Lawyer Kathy Basire said the inquest would aim to determine why Harmer failed to give way at the intersection and whether traffic signs or other features at the intersection contributed.
In a statement read out in court, the driver of the ute said she was not distracted by anything when she approached the intersection, and her car radio was not even on.
She then saw the Holden emerge from Hepburns Rd ‘‘like how you see sun flickering through gaps in trees’’.
Everything happened ‘‘within a split second’’, and she made eye contact with Harmer at the moment their vehicles collided. ‘‘I remember [seeing] the vehicle kind of fold and bend.’’
She said everything seemed to slow down as she heard the windows breaking, the wind coming through the car, and the airbags deploying one by one.
After her vehicle stopped rolling, she tried to find her phone to call for help, but could not see it.
She ran over to the Holden and said she could clearly see the driver was dead, and also noticed a deceased child in a paddock. Two motorists stopped at the scene and called 111. Senior Constable John McIntyre, from the police serious crash unit, testified in detail about the road signs at the intersection and the visibility coming from the different directions.
The give way sign on Hepburns Rd was the appropriate distance of
120 metres from the intersection, but blended into the background considerably due to the geography of the landscape.
McIntyre said the sign could be clearly seen about 60m from the intersection, which would not have given Harmer enough time to brake safely, he said. There was evidence she had braked at the moment of impact, but not enough to lock the wheels of her car.
Since the crash a warning sign has been put up on Hepburns Rd
200m from the intersection to indicate a stop sign ahead, which itself has replaced a give way sign.
McIntyre showed photos of the crash site to the court and described how windbreak hedges and a raised culvert had obstructed the visibility of Mitcham Rd from Hepburns Rd.
The hedges also obstructed visibility for vehicles driving on Mitcham Rd towards the intersection. Both drivers had been driving within the speed limit, and no mechanical faults were found when the vehicles were inspected after the crash. Coroner Marcus Elliot has reserved his findings.